The Woman In The Hearth
by acciorobbiekay
Summary: Ella Clairmont's dreams are getting out of control. Every night she has the same nightmare-a woman standing in fire while Camp Halfblood burns to the ground. When her best friend and satyr Connor Winter disappears it's up to the children of Demeter, Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Aphrodite and Hectate to find Connor and quite possibly save the world.


_There's smoke, smoke everywhere. She can't see, she can't breath, she can't even think. People are screaming as they try to escape the flames and the cabins are burning, whirlwinds of fire destroying the place she used to call home._

_The sky is pitch black, no stars, no moon, and the only light is the fire. Soot is on her skin as she tries to run but it is as if she is running through slog. Friends, family, everyone is scorched._

_The young woman with the embroidered shawl is there, like always, auburn hair tumbling down her shoulders. Her face is warm and kindly but although her chocolate-colored eyes invite and calm whoever looks into them, there is a chill. She is sitting in the very center of the chaos letting the fire lick her olive skin._

_A young warrior with wild dark curls lunges towards her, but with a flick of a hand dissolves into ash. The woman scoops up a handful of the ash and watches as it falls through her long fingers. There's a soft smile on her thin lips but a calculating expression on her face._

_"Perhaps sometimes it is better to yield, is it not?" She chuckles and her eyes start to glow. The brightness of her eyes eventually becomes too much and everything explodes in golden light._

Ella Clairmont wakes up dripping in cold sweat. In a flash, her dagger is out from it's place underneath her pillow and grasped firmly in her hand. Brown eyes dart nervously around the cabin for intruders, but all she can see are her slumbering bunkmates and abundances of gardening tools.

_Safe,_ she reminds herself. _You're safe._ Even though she's pretty sure camp isn't burning down, Ella knows she won't be able to fall back asleep. The nightmares have gotten so much worse lately-always so vivid, filled with fire and ash and the same woman with the kind face.

The result of these nightmares is barely any sleep, and it's not a rare occasion for her to fall asleep during hand to hand combat practice or nod off as she's chowing down on some pancakes.

The nightmares started at the beginning of the summer. They were slow, steady at first, only flickering things but soon they swelled into a bonfire. Ella can't stop them. And demigod dreams suck, she knows, but these are hell. Real hell.

Demeter kids don't have these types of dreams. Whenever she talks to her half brothers or sisters they always look so perplexed. Their dreams can be rough, but never this recurring, and, well, frightening.

It's been a few weeks after Kronos was defeated. A few weeks after hundreds of people died. Ella was in the battle and luckily survived, although she did get a nasty scar on her right cheek from a little fight with some empousa. Most people are just enjoying the calm for right now, and thanking their lucky scars that they aren't dead.

Ella doesn't want to cause anymore trouble.

It's easy for people to forget about Ella. People always remember demigods like Percy Jackson or Annabeth Chase. Ella likes Annabeth-she's a year older and sometimes they are in monster assault strategy sometimes together. But no one _really _ever notices her. She's just that Demeter girl.

Quietly, Ella throws on a leather jacket over her pajamas and jumps off the bunk bed. Her bunkmate, Cherri, moans in her sleep and Ella winces internally_. _Thankfully, Cherri is dead asleep a second later and Ella creeps her way out of the cabin.

It's a nice night, cool and breezy, starlight illuminating Ella's dark skin. She misses wind ruffling her hair, and self consciously presses her hand to her newly cropped hair. She figured it would be more practical in battle, but does miss her cornrows.

When she gets to the beach there's already the picnic blanket spread out with an enormous box of donuts and a six-pack of Coke. She grins as she sees her best friend and saytr Connor Winter sprawled out on the right side with his favorite cinnamon-flavored toothpick between his lips and a fedora on his head.

"Hey." She plops down next to him and swats him on the arm. "How did you get the food?" Connor smirks and tosses her a can of Coke. "Paid Raina a few drachmas. That girl is putty in my hands." Ella gives him a look and sips some Coke, exhaling happily as sugar swarmed her taste buds.

Raina is the head counselor of the Hermes bunk. She and Connor are always in cahoots playing pranks on the Apollo cabin. She's notoriously cunning and tricky, but with a little bit of nudging she can get you anything you want outside of camp.

"Don't take advantage of the poor girl." Ella snags the last glazed donut and Connor pouts. "Yeah, yeah." A bead of jelly drips down Connor's chin as he takes a bite of donut.

They continue to eat in silence.

"I figured you would come down here." Connor says, stretching out his furry legs. "The dreams are getting worse, huh?"

She licks some sugar from her top lip. "I guess, yeah."

"You should talk to Chiron." He offers. "Maybe." Ella stares out at the ocean waves. Chiron isn't her exactly go-to person to chit chat about her weird-ass dreams. He's wise and worldly and smart but he just doesn't understand her. If she says something he'll think she's another demigod who wants to have an epic quest like Percy Jackson. A wannabe, in short.

Maybe she is a wannabe. Ella doesn't know.

"You've gone on quests before, right, Connor?"

"Tons." Connor takes a swig of Coke. "I get into total beast mode. Full out bat-shit crazy on the monsters." Ella glances at him. He's Japanese, with pointed, pixie features and shaggy blue-black hair. Connor isn't the slightest bit frightening.

"Were they fun?" Ella swirls her finger in the mealy yellow-brown sand.

He turns to her and his lip quirks up. "Do _you_ want to go on a quest?"

Ella shakes her head furiously. "No, no, no. I don't know. I was just curious what it's like."

Connor doesn't believe her, obviously. He stares her down and she stares back him. "It's nice, El. Like a road-trip with monsters."

That doesn't sound nice to her. A road trip with monsters. She pictures a bunch of hydras stuffed in a convertible and smiles grimly. "My dreams have enough monsters in them."

And they do. They have the woman with the smile looks so sweet from afar but up close Ella can see things she never wanted to see. People burning at the stake, children cooking in iron pots, the stench of rotting flesh and ashes. The taste of Coke is bitter on her tongue.

After a moment of silence, Connor nudges her. "You know you can always talk to me about this stuff, right?"

She rolls her eyes and chugs down the rest of the can because she doesn't want to speak. They sit there for a long time, silent, until the harpies start to screech. Ella feels like shit.


End file.
